The country is struggling on other fronts as well: Zimbabwe’s skyrocketing inflation is wreaking havoc on the country’s economy, and the government has been in limbo for months thanks to disputed presidential elections marred by violence, and stalled power-sharing talks between Mugabe and the opposition party.

Odinga asked Jakaya Kikwete, chairman of the African Union and president of Tanzania, to “formulate an urgent solution to save Zimbabwe,” KBC said.

Longtime critic Desmond Tutu, former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, said Mugabe “is destroying a wonderful country.” In an interview with a Dutch television show, quoted by the Associated Press, Tutu suggested African troops should depose the leader.

Power-sharing talks between Mugabe and his rival in the presidential election, Morgan Tsvangirai, originally began in July following months of political violence that stemmed from the country’s disputed presidential elections in March. Many wondered if the talks would ever result in a deal, as the two rival factions continued to feud.

Other nations in the region have gotten involved in the dispute. The Washington Post reported that in October Zimbabwe’s neighboring countries held a meeting held a meeting in an attempt to “resolve the … power-sharing impasse.” The summit was attended by Mugabe, Tsvangirai and leaders of the SADC, and mediated by former president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki.

Sources in This Section

With Mugabe claiming that there are no problems and the MDC calling for help, it seems unclear how the deadlock will be resolved if the two leaders cannot even agree that there is one.

James Kirchick of The Wall Street Journal warned in a recent opinion piece that “sharing power just isn’t something Mugabe does.” He compares the recent events in Zimbabwe to those of nearly 30 years ago when Zimbabwe was still the British colony of Rhodesia. Mugabe threatened to kill anyone who participated in the country’s first multiracial election, which gave whites 28 out of 100 parliamentary seats.

Still, at the end of September, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was hopeful that the two rivals would put an end to the deadlock in the upcoming days. Although the opposition party was willing to let Mugabe take control of the army, they were against his keeping control of internal affairs such as “police, finance, foreign affairs, justice, information and local government,” Reuters reported. Tsvangirai still had faith in recently resigned South African President Mbeki's ability to moderate the agreement. He told a news conference, "If there are political problems, that's why we have a leadership forum to resolve those issues.”

Mbeki, despite his forced resignation, will likely play a key role in breaking the stalemate, as leaders reached out to him and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Wednesday. “If there is anything that needs to be discussed with Zimbabwe, there are channels, and the only channel is through the facilitator," an SADC spokesperson told AFP. He has been the mediator for the duration of the process, but his spokesperson said that the SADC would have to officially state that he was still the mediator post-resignation. The MDC seems eager to continue reliance on Mbeki, and his spokesperson said, “President Mbeki will participate in any process that is aimed at taking the African continent a step forward.”

Patrick Chinamasa, chief negotiator for the ruling ZANU-PF, denies that there is any need for outside assistance. He told AFP, “Anyone who says there is a deadlock is being mischievous. There is commitment on all of us to make things work.”